Tin Hearts
by SGAngeL
Summary: Tag for Tin Man. Becoming a robot and living forever is a hard idea to get your mind around, and Sam's not sure she's ready to let go of Earth just yet. SamJack


**Title:** Tin Hearts  
**Author: **SGAngeL  
**Summary: **Tag for "Tin Man". Becoming a robot and living forever is a hard idea to get your mind around, and Sam's not sure she's ready to let go of Earth just yet. SamJack  
**Disclaimer: **Stargate's not mine, but just like every other fic writer, I wish it was!  
**Author's Note**: I found this in a folder. I started it about two years ago, so I thought I'd finish it.

**Tin Hearts**

Sam peered up at the giant ring before her. It lay dormant in the middle of the giant room, and she found it hard to think of a life without it. For months now she'd been going through the Stargate, and exploring different worlds. It surprised her just how much she'd grown accustomed to the SGC.

She tried to imagine the other her, somewhere on the other side of the galaxy, probably in her lab working on some kind of new alien technology. A stab of jealousy ripped through her. Never had Samantha Carter ever thought that she'd be jealous of herself.

Giving a deep sigh, Sam withdrew her legs, pulling her knees to her chest. She was sitting on the ground, leaning back against the DHD. Above her floated their "battery pack" its orange light glowing down at her.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping, Captain? You don't want your battery to go dead, do you?"

Sam was startled by the familiar sarcastic voice of her CO, and turned her head up to look at him. She raised her eyebrows, and looked up at their energy source, humming over them.

Jack followed her gaze, "Right, well, we do need to 'refresh' every now and then."

"I couldn't sleep."

"I heard you walk out, after a while I decided to follow. Mind if I sit?"

She moved over, leaving room next her for him.

He sat down next to her, and smiled proudly to himself when there were no protests from his knees. Yes, he certainly did feel 'better'.

"Harlan did a good job with your face." Sam spoke, studying his cheek. You couldn't tell that just a couple of days ago it had been horribly disfigured by the fight he'd had with Teal'c.

"You make it sound as if I went and got plastic surgery or something."

Sam grinned devilishly, "Well, technically speaking…"

"Uh, uh, uh!" Jack held up a warning finger. "We're not calling it plastic surgery Carter! It was just fixing an old robot's injuries."

She laughed. "Yes, Sir."

Jack sighed, "You know, since we're about to spend forever here, we're not exactly in the Air Force anymore. Well, we are, the other us are, but not us…" Jack frowned, trying to make sense of what he'd said. Sam just looked curiously back at him, unsure of where exactly he was going.

Shaking his head, Jack continued. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to call me 'Sir' anymore. Just call me 'Jack'."

Sam nodded, "Then call me 'Sam'."

"Done. So, what were you thinking about before I rudely interrupted?"

Sam returned her gaze back to the Stargate and sighed. "That another me is out there living my life, while I'm stuck here, forever."

"Forever is a long time." Jack replied. He too, turned to look at the giant ring.

"Yes it is. I always spent my life worrying that I never had enough time to get everything I wanted done. Now, my time is endless, and I have no idea what to do."

Jack nodded. "I know how you feel. I'm kinda wishing I'd brought my yo-yo." Sam chuckled, and looked at him with a wide smile, that lit her whole face.

"Actually, I have a few ideas of what we could do," Jack said, and with Sam's questioning gaze, he continued. "Well, I was thinking, we should build a big ship, with another one of those battery-things," He pointed towards the ceiling. "Then, we could fly around the galaxy, doing whatever we want."

"You want me to build a ship?" Sam asked in astonishment.

"Hey, we do have forever."

"And how do you suppose we get the technology and resources for this?"

Jack grinned, "Well, Harlan was talking the other day about how others went through the gate with mini battery packs. I've discussed this with Teal'c, and he's already planning how to decorate his room."

Sam chuckled, and shook her head. "You're crazy."

"I don't know, I'm not the one who wanted Stargate wallpaper."

Sam's smile faded into a frown. "Aren't you sad that we're never going to be able to go home again?"

"Of course, but, if we get that ship up and running, with some sort of invisibility cloak, we could go to Earth, and nobody would even know."

"I'm serious, Jack. There are so many things that I never knew meant so much, until now that I can't have them."

Jack raised his eyebrows at the use of his name, and grew serious. "Sorry, but yes, I would give anything right now just to see my little cabin, and go fishing in the pond. I was actually thinking of inviting you, Danny, and T' up there next time we had down time."

"I haven't spoken to my father in years, and I only speak to my brother and his kids once every few months. I wish I'd done something to ease the tension between the three of us. Instead, I buried myself in work."

Jack frowned, he realized that she'd never talked about her family before, and until that moment he'd thought she didn't even have one. Unlike Sam, he didn't have a family back on Earth. The only people who were remotely close to him were SG-1 and even General Hammond.

He looked at Sam sitting next to him out of the corner of his eye. Dealing with these situations wasn't exactly his forte. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. Her body froze for a brief moment before relaxing into his embrace.

"You have us." Jack spoke quietly.

Sam leaned her head against his shoulder. "Forever?"

"Forever" Jack replied, and for the first time in his life, he realized that forever literally meant forever.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think? It's something I may come back to later and write some more about what they get up to. I've always wondered what they did up to "Double Jeopardy" Then there's the whole living without the regs... Thanks for reading! 


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